Silence fell over the Astral Nexus after Yunaria's words.
Not the quiet of peace, but the suffocating stillness that comes before a world cracks open.
Aiden swallowed hard.
"My… First Love?" he repeated, voice trembling despite his attempt to steady it.
Yunaria nodded slowly.
"Yes."
Her eyes lowered.
"And the one whose return ended everything."
Aiden felt something inside him twist—something raw, aching, and frighteningly familiar.
"But I haven't remembered their face," he said quietly. "Or their voice. Not even their name."
"That's intentional," Yunaria replied.
"And necessary."
Aiden frowned. "Why necessary?"
She hesitated, then whispered:
"Because if you remember them right now… your heart will break again. And you might not survive it a second time."
Aiden clenched his jaw.
"I've seen whole eras collapse. I can handle one memory."
She looked at him—truly looked—and the sorrow in her eyes made his chest tighten.
"This isn't a memory you handle," she said softly.
"This is a memory that handles you."
Aiden looked away.
The sigils on the floor pulsed faintly, responding to his unsettled emotions.
"So what now?" he asked.
"Now…" Yunaria stood slowly, wiping her palms on her robes as if bracing herself. "…we teach you how to survive the next memory. The one that leads directly to the 12th Era's collapse."
Aiden rose to his feet.
"The memory of their resurrection?"
Yunaria nodded.
"And the moment the world broke."
---
The Astral Nexus Shifts
The chamber trembled, crystals ringing like bells plucked by invisible fingers. The floor opened into a spiraling path of floating platforms, each one carved with runes glowing in different colors—amber, cyan, obsidian-black, sun-gold, bloodred.
Aiden stepped forward cautiously.
"What is this?"
"The Path of Erasure," Yunaria said, following behind him.
Aiden raised a brow.
"That sounds… reassuring."
"It shouldn't be," she said without hesitation.
"It's the path only ancient kings walked when they needed to confront truths powerful enough to warp timelines."
Aiden paused at a platform of swirling silver mist.
"And now I'm walking it alone?"
"No." Yunaria's voice softened.
"I am walking it with you."
Aiden turned.
"Why?" he asked.
Her expression held something he couldn't decipher.
Not pity.
Not duty.
Something deeper.
"Because I promised," she said quietly.
"To who?" Aiden asked.
For a moment, her composure cracked.
But only for a moment.
"To you," she whispered.
"A long time ago… though you don't remember."
Aiden's breath hitched.
But before he could respond—
The silver platform erupted with white light.
---
Memory Gate #3 — The Echo of Resurrection
A swirling vortex manifested in the air, crackling with temporal shards. Within the storm, a faint melody played—beautiful and broken, like a lullaby caught halfway between love and loss.
Aiden stepped closer.
"This is the memory?"
Yunaria nodded, her expression turning pale.
"Yes."
"And I will remember what I resurrected?"
"No." Yunaria's voice sharpened.
"This memory won't show you who.
It will show you what it cost."
Aiden inhaled sharply.
"What did it cost?"
Yunaria met his eyes.
"Everything."
The gate pulsed again, louder, vibrating the Nexus.
Aiden stepped toward it.
But Yunaria's hand shot out, gripping his wrist tightly.
"Aiden," she said.
"Before you enter—listen carefully."
"What?"
"This memory will lie to you. It will tempt you. It will try to convince you that resurrecting them was the right choice."
Aiden swallowed.
"And was it?"
Her silence answered him.
"No," she whispered finally.
"It wasn't."
---
Aiden Enters the Gate
The world twisted—
And he was somewhere new.
A grand citadel stood before him, its walls spiraling upward like the ribs of a living creature. Celestial guards lay collapsed across the marble floor—still breathing, but unconscious.
Their energy drained.
By him.
Aiden—his past self—stood at the center of a ritual circle carved into the ground. But this Aiden looked different:
Eyes glowing gold.
Veins illuminated with starlight.
Aura unstable, flickering wildly.
He looked powerful.
Too powerful.
"You're forcing the timeline," a distant voice echoed.
Aiden turned.
A figure stepped into the edge of vision—cloaked, trembling.
Seraphine.
Her face was pale, eyes filled with horror, lips parted as if begging him to stop.
Past Aiden didn't even look at her.
He continued channeling energy into the ritual circle.
And within the center of the circle…
A shape lay curled on the floor.
Frail.
Silent.
Barely breathing.
Aiden's heart lurched.
"That's them," he whispered.
"The one I… resurrected."
The shape twitched.
Seraphine's voice broke.
"Please, Aiden… stop. This isn't what they would've wanted."
Past Aiden snarled—not out of anger, but out of grief pushed past sanity.
"You don't know what they wanted."
Seraphine took a step forward.
"I knew them. I loved them too."
Past Aiden stiffened—but didn't turn.
"And I know," Seraphine whispered, tears forming,
"that they wouldn't want you to burn the era for their sake."
The ritual circle glowed brighter, the ground cracking.
Seraphine reached for him.
"Aiden, please. I'm begging you. If you keep going, the Era Seal will—"
"I DON'T CARE!" past Aiden roared, aura exploding outward.
Aiden flinched.
He had never heard his own voice like that.
Not desperate.
Not angry.
Broken.
Completely broken.
The resurrection target lifted slightly from the floor, suspended by starlight. Their hair drifted weightlessly. Their hand twitched.
And with the faintest voice—
"…Aiden?"
Aiden felt his heart collapse in his chest.
That voice.
That single breath of recognition.
It hit him like a blade.
Past Aiden froze, trembling violently.
The voice came again—weak, confused, but real.
"…You came back."
And past Aiden fell to his knees, sobbing like someone who had lost lifetimes.
Seraphine covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face—because she knew.
She knew he was already doomed.
And that she would soon be forced to kill him.
The memory began collapsing violently—
Cracks spreading through the vision—
Because Aiden's current heart wasn't ready to know more.
Aiden staggered backward, clutching his chest as white-hot pain shot through him.
His vision blurred—
The world fractured—
---
Back to the Astral Nexus
Aiden collapsed onto the crystalline floor, gasping.
Yunaria knelt beside him immediately.
"What did you see? How much did it show you?"
Aiden's eyes were wide with shock.
"I saw… the ritual. I saw Seraphine trying to stop me."
Yunaria's breathing hitched.
"And them? Did you hear… their voice?"
Aiden nodded slowly.
"I did."
Yunaria went still.
"And?" she whispered.
Aiden swallowed.
"It didn't show me their face. Not yet."
"But the voice—"
Yunaria's tone trembled.
"How did it feel?"
Aiden's hand shook as he pressed it against his chest.
"Like something I've been searching for… without knowing I was searching."
The Nexus lights dimmed.
Because the path was nearing the memory that would reveal the truth.
Aiden looked up at Yunaria.
"Why did resurrecting them destroy the 12th Era?"
Yunaria closed her eyes.
And whispered the answer he feared:
"Because they were never supposed to return."
"They were a being who could only exist in the First Era."
"And bringing them back… unmade everything else."
Aiden's breath caught.
"And their name?" he asked.
"Tell me their name."
Yunaria shook her head sharply.
"No."
"Why?!"
"Because the moment you know their name," Yunaria whispered,
"you will remember your love for them."
"And once you remember… it will destroy you."
Aiden stood slowly, fists clenched.
"Then let it destroy me."
Yunaria's eyes widened, shimmering with sadness.
"It already did once."